June 5 [16:00 EDT] -- Actress/songstress Vanessa Williams is taking on quite a workload these days. Fresh from her turn in the NBC miniseries adaptation of Homer's "Odyssey," Williams has just completed her new album, titled "Next," which is due to arrive on August 26.

This time out, Williams sought the production expertise of R. Kelly, Keith Thomas, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Grammy-magnet Babyface.

Now Williams is back in actor mode, as she is currently working on the film "Shut Up and Dance" with "Children of a Lesser God" director Randy Haines. The film should arrive in theaters early next year. Before that, Williams will appear in the Babyface produced film "Soul Food" for Fox, and in MGM's "Hoodlums" with Lawrence Fishburn, Tim Roth, and Andy Garcia. Both of those films should surface this fall.