Five-year-old girl follows in parents' footsteps by starring in smash hit musical Waitress

Mimi-Kimara Clarson was born into a theatrical family as both of her parents are veteran stage performers.

Now, Mimi will follow in her parents' footsteps when she appears in the tour of Waitress, which plays in Birmingham this month and Wolverhampton in June and July.

The five-year-old will take on the role of Lulu, the daughter of the show's protagonist - Jenna Hunterson.

Waitress follows the story of Jenna, a woman who is trapped in an abusive relationship and is unwillingly pregnant.

She escapes from her trauma through her love of baking pies which she inherited from her mother.

Mimi has been focused on her Musical Theatre training since she could walk and talk, attending classes at the theatre school which is co-owned by her parents, Mia-Jay Clarson and Dominic Clarson.

M3 Studios, which is co-run by Mimi's aunts, Marni-Lee and Milla-Star Clarson, has over 500 students across six branches.

Mimi's father and M3 co-owner, Dominic Clarson, said: "It's wonderful to see everything come full circle, our dream was always to perform and then run a school of our own and both her mother and myself used to go off to castings when we were very young and to now see our daughter already topping us with a named role in a professional tour, having just turned five is unbelievable, we are so proud.

"A highly respected casting director got in touch with us and we passed the opportunity to our M3 Students, within days, the American creative team had approved Mimi for the role after being shortlisted and they told us how focused and professional she was, she wowed the casting team."

Mimi will be playing the role at the Birmingham Hippodrome from May 16 - 21 and Wolverhampton Grand theatre from June 29 - July 2.