The phrase "a lead performance" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to the main or most prominent performance in a theatrical production, film, or other performance art.
Example: "Her portrayal of the lead character was so captivating that it earned her a nomination for Best Actress."
Alternatives: "a principal performance" or "a starring role".
A lead performance of mind-bending dullness is given by Blake Lively, whose surname suddenly looks horribly ironic.
Directed by Val Guest, this Quatermass Xperiment (as it was renamed) remains a startlingly powerful film, despite its simplifications and a lead performance of staggering ineptitude by its bought-in American star, Brian Donlevy.
At the same time, Idris Elba could have won it; arguably, he could have been nominated in the best actor category – having given what amounted to a lead performance in Beasts of No Nation – and won that too.
Among his roles were supporting turns in the comedies Hot Millions (1968), Catch-22 (1970), In & Out (1997), and Elf (2003) and a lead performance in the political farce First Family (1980).
was written and directed by Dan Gilroy, whose only other feature, "Nightcrawler," offered, in the guise of an impassioned exposé of the ways of TV news, a jumble of absurd plot contrivances and a lead performance that seems made for a show reel rather than a drama.
A tale of two futures — the one that lies ahead, built on the ruins of one that's unfulfilled — told with a live-wire immediacy and a mournful wit. 5. "Black Swan" (Darren Aronofsky) Amazingly aggressive symbolism conditioned by an extraordinary visual coherence, and a lead performance, by Natalie Portman, of an alluring opacity.
There's no question that Lawrence gives a strong lead performance, with an interesting inscrutable quality: a character portrayal that is all about strength – although I missed the comic zaniness and vulnerability of her appearances in American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook.
It's a shame, because the show developed into a fine ensemble drama with a great lead performance at its center.
At best it is a mildly diverting goof with a charmless lead performance.
Based on an Israeli show, it features a charming lead performance by Elizabeth Reaser ("Grey's Anatomy").
In a hammy movie that practically demands a hammy lead performance, he is relatively restrained.
