Italian runner making comeback with period theatre (5)

I believe the answer is:

opera

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

'theatre' is the definition.
(I know that opera is a type of theatre)

'italian runner making comeback with period' is the wordplay.
'italian runner' becomes 'po' (Italian river. I am not sure about the 'italian' bit.).
'making comeback' is a reversal indicator.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'period' becomes 'era' (era is a kind of period).
'po' written backwards gives 'op'.
'op'+'era'='OPERA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for opera that I've seen before include "Throw a rope for the musical" , "Lulu, say" , "Eg, Rigoletto" , "La Boheme or Rigoletto" , "eg 'Aida'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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