  We use theoretical models to establish a tight relationship for the absolute
magnitudes of RR Lyrae stars as a function of their periods and Stroemgren
pseudo-color c_0 = (u-v)_0 - (v-b)_0. Applying this to RR Lyr, and comparing
the result with the predicted average absolute magnitude for stars of similar
metallicity from the same models, yields an overluminosity of 0.064 +/- 0.013
mag in Stroemgren y (and thus similarly in V) for RR Lyr. Based on a revised
value for RR Lyr's trigonometric parallax, and on a newly derived reddening
value of E(B-V) = 0.015 +/- 0.020, we provide a corrected relationship between
average absolute magnitude and metallicity for RR Lyrae stars that takes RR
Lyr's evolutionary status fully into account for the first time. Applying this
relationship to the LMC, we derive a revised true distance modulus of (m-M)_0 =
18.44 +/- 0.11.
