Crossword Genius

Cheers after Charlie's appearance in extravagant production by Italians (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ricotta

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cheers after' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'charlie's appearance in extravagant production by italians' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'extravagant' could be 'ott' (short for over the top) and 'ott' is found within the answer.
'charlie' could be 'c' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.) and 'c' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'ria' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ricotta that I've seen before include "dairy produce" , "one brought on board?" , "Ital. cheese" , "Sheep's milk cheese" , "Italian 4 across" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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